A steady hand for troubled Freddie

Haldeman - who this week ended his seven-year tenure at Boston’s Putnam Investments - has been recommended by Freddie Mac’s board to be its chief executive, but he must be approved by the company’s US regulator, according to a person knowledgeable about the decision.

If approved, the 60-year-old Haldeman would become the second prominent Boston businessman to try to fix Freddie Mac. Richard Syron, who ran the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, was hired as Freddie’s chief executive in 2003 after a $5 billion accounting scandal. He resigned in September after failing to prevent the company’s slide into government receivership.

A Freddie spokesman would not confirm the recommendation, saying only that the hiring process is incomplete. Regulators declined comment. Haldeman could not be reached.

He has made a career of fixing companies. But Haldeman has no background in the housing or mortgage industries, nor any Washington experience. He would face a challenge even greater than Syron did.

“Ed is a remarkable person and up for virtually any challenge,’’ said Pamela J. Joyner, a marketing consultant and trustee of Dartmouth College, where Haldeman is chairman of the board. “He has all the requisite leadership skills. He’s ethical. He has a humanistic demeanor that doesn’t diminish from his ability to make the hard decisions.’’

Haldeman - who has homes in Boston and Philadelphia - became the board’s top candidate because of his experience running a large organization with problems in finances and its reputation similar to those at Putnam, said the person familiar with his selection, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Freddie Mac and its sister company, Fannie Mae, were created by Congress to provide funding to mortgage markets, and together they own or guarantee about half of the nation’s home loans. Both were taken over by the US government last summer.

Yesterday, Syron said Haldeman would not have one problem he faced, serving two masters: the government, especially members of Congress who wanted to increase homeownership among constituents; and shareholders, who wanted it run in the most profitable fashion.

Freddie’s shareholders were wiped out in the government takeover. “In one way things are clearer than they were before,’’ said Syron. “Now, its objective is to help housing policy.’’

Before coming to Boston in 2002, Haldeman revived the performance of Delaware Investments. But it was his ascension to Putnam’s top post in 2003 where he made his biggest mark.

Putnam was staggering from an investigation into improper trading that prompted customers to withdraw billions from accounts. Haldeman barnstormed the country to calm clients and negotiated a $193.5 million settlement with securities regulators.

“When a company is sorely tested, as Putnam was some years back, the job of restoring investors’ trust and confidence is not easy,’’ Haldeman’s successor as chief executive, Robert Reynolds, told employees in an e-mail announcing his departure this week. “But Ed Haldeman’s steady hand and his commitment to integrity did help Putnam get back on track.’’

Another parallel in Haldeman’s favor: Freddie Mac’s financial losses owe partly to risky mortgages. At Putnam, Haldeman imposed greater risk controls on its stock-picking after the company’s investment style produced disastrous results with the bursting of the Internet bubble.

Laura Lutton, an analyst at mutual fund watcher Morningstar, said Haldeman was a consensus-builder who treated employees equitably, and tried to reduce the hypercompetitive culture that encouraged some employees to take wild risks.

“They were tangible things to make the culture more cooperative and less cutthroat,’’ Lutton said.

However, Haldeman failed to fix Putnam’s performance. With many of its funds producing mediocre results, he stepped aside last year for Reynolds, and became chairman of Putnam’s money-management arm.

Haldeman already has one link to Freddie. The company’s interim chairman, longtime Harvard University professor Robert R. Glauber, said several years ago that he considered Haldeman one of his best students at the graduate school of business. Haldeman has an MBA and law degree from Harvard.

His selection was first reported by The Wall Street Journal yesterday.

Freddie Mac would present Haldeman with challenges on a scale he has not tackled before.

The biggest is the company’s uncertain future. The Obama administration said it hopes to present recommendations on Freddie and Fannie in February.

US Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House committee that deals with housing matters, said once the real estate crisis ebbs, the government must decide how to restructure Fannie and Freddie. He said the private mission of financing the mortgage sector, and the public mission of promoting affordable housing are in conflict.

Todd Wallack can be reached at twallack@globe.com and Jenifer B. McKim can be reached at jmckim@globe.com.